When the Turkish premier football league (Süper Lig) started last month, many observers expected to see a contest beside sports – one that would pit football fans (“soccer,” as our North American readers like to call it) against the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government.

But the games this past weekend proved once again that the political contest in Turkey’s stadiums will involve multiple sides – not just a gesture match between pro- and anti-AKP fans.

Barın Kayaoğlu is finishing his doctorate in history at the University of Virginia. He was recently a Smith Richardson Foundation fellow in International Security Studies at Yale University. You can follow him on Twitter (@barinkayaoglu) and Facebook (Barın Kayaoğlu).